BIKERELIABILITY Reg check
League table/ YAMAHA/ YZF-R1/By year
Registration-year report · 2005–2025

Data as of: DVSA MOT results to 2025

Yamaha YZF-R1: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which YZF-R1 years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 84.1% average, from 231,553 DVSA tests.

2017
highest-passing year · 92.5%
1971
lowest-passing year · 73.5%
19.0pp
spread across 28 years

Pass rate by registration year

first-time pass rate · cohorts with 50 or more tests · registration year from first use date

Highest pass rate: 2017 (92.5% of 1,337 tests). Lowest: 1971 (73.5% of 83). Years more than two points below the model average: 1971, 1996, 1997.

70%83%96%1971: 73.5% pass (83 tests)1996: 79.0% pass (4,962 tests)1997: 78.7% pass (6,814 tests)1998: 82.8% pass (21,390 tests)1999: 82.7% pass (27,641 tests)2000: 82.5% pass (24,049 tests)2001: 84.2% pass (17,334 tests)2002: 83.8% pass (20,397 tests)2003: 83.8% pass (12,731 tests)2004: 85.1% pass (21,410 tests)2005: 84.8% pass (14,676 tests)2006: 86.0% pass (8,939 tests)2007: 85.0% pass (13,153 tests)2008: 86.3% pass (9,566 tests)2009: 86.1% pass (8,813 tests)2010: 86.5% pass (4,178 tests)2011: 85.9% pass (2,795 tests)2012: 87.4% pass (2,312 tests)2013: 88.0% pass (1,374 tests)2014: 86.9% pass (1,240 tests)2015: 90.1% pass (2,002 tests)2016: 91.8% pass (2,268 tests)2017: 92.5% pass (1,337 tests)2018: 92.4% pass (708 tests)2019: 90.8% pass (509 tests)2020: 89.4% pass (407 tests)2021: 92.2% pass (218 tests)2022: 91.2% pass (68 tests)197120092022
RegisteredTestsFirst-time passvs model (84.1%)
1971 83 73.5% -10.6 pp
1996 4,962 79.0% -5.1 pp
1997 6,814 78.7% -5.4 pp
1998 21,390 82.8% -1.3 pp
1999 27,641 82.7% -1.4 pp
2000 24,049 82.5% -1.6 pp
2001 17,334 84.2% +0.1 pp
2002 20,397 83.8% -0.3 pp
2003 12,731 83.8% -0.3 pp
2004 21,410 85.1% +1.0 pp
2005 14,676 84.8% +0.7 pp
2006 8,939 86.0% +1.9 pp
2007 13,153 85.0% +0.9 pp
2008 9,566 86.3% +2.2 pp
2009 8,813 86.1% +2.0 pp
2010 4,178 86.5% +2.4 pp
2011 2,795 85.9% +1.8 pp
2012 2,312 87.4% +3.3 pp
2013 1,374 88.0% +3.9 pp
2014 1,240 86.9% +2.8 pp
2015 2,002 90.1% +6.0 pp
2016 2,268 91.8% +7.7 pp
2017 1,337 92.5% +8.4 pp
2018 708 92.4% +8.3 pp
2019 509 90.8% +6.7 pp
2020 407 89.4% +5.3 pp
2021 218 92.2% +8.1 pp
2022 68 91.2% +7.1 pp

Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years. A first-time MOT pass is a roadworthiness check, not a full mechanical inspection.

Pass rate over time

first-time pass rate by test year · 2005–2025
79%85%90%2005: 86.0% pass (1,676 tests)2006: 85.8% pass (11,840 tests)2007: 84.3% pass (13,165 tests)2008: 82.2% pass (13,756 tests)2009: 80.9% pass (13,904 tests)2010: 81.3% pass (14,015 tests)2011: 81.8% pass (14,291 tests)2012: 82.8% pass (14,019 tests)2013: 82.8% pass (14,022 tests)2014: 82.9% pass (13,691 tests)2015: 84.0% pass (13,365 tests)2016: 84.3% pass (12,892 tests)2017: 84.8% pass (11,924 tests)2018: 85.1% pass (9,035 tests)2019: 85.6% pass (9,097 tests)2020: 86.7% pass (7,561 tests)2021: 85.8% pass (10,152 tests)2022: 86.4% pass (9,634 tests)2023: 87.2% pass (9,304 tests)2024: 88.2% pass (6,851 tests)2025: 87.9% pass (7,359 tests)20052025

Questions

Which YZF-R1 years have the lowest MOT pass rate?
1971, 1996, 1997 registered examples pass first time less often than the Yamaha YZF-R1 overall (84.1%); the 1971 cohort is lowest at 73.5% from 83 tests.
Which YZF-R1 year has the highest MOT pass rate?
2017, at 92.5% of 1,337 first tests (2005–2025). Years more than two points above the model average: 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
How much does the YZF-R1 pass rate vary by year?
19.0 percentage points between the highest (2017, 92.5%) and lowest (1971, 73.5%) cohorts with at least 50 tests. Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years.

Full report: Yamaha YZF-R1 reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #2721 of 5428 models· other Yamaha models: YZF-R6, FZS600, YBR 125, XJR1300, FZ6, YZF-R125